Girls achieve better GCSE results at single-sex schools

Girls at single-sex state schools achieve better GCSE results than their counterparts at mixed gender schools.

This is according to new research from SchoolDash, which found 75 per cent of female pupils at all-girl schools got five good GCSEs including English and maths, compared to 55 per cent at mixed schools.

Superior performance at single-sex schools was found to continue even when factors such as social background and selective intake were taken into account. However, the difference was far less pronounced for male pupils.

Speaking to the BBC, SchoolDash founder Timo Hannay stated: "It would now be interesting to try and understand why girls at girls' schools tend to do better than their peers, and what the vast majority of mixed schools might be able to learn from this phenomenon."

The majority of single-sex schools are concentrated in London and the south-east, which may play a part in academic performance being stronger in this area.